dunno y ur replacing it, but just fyi. use CoreAVC for decoding HD and something light but awsome like Media Player Classic, and you'd be saprized what pc's can actually play HD. my Netbook cant play full HD or bluray, but I have encodes on here ~4gb 1080(sorry i never botherd to look at the bitrates) that actually work on here[without stutter]. Medium settings tho No deinterlacing medium deblocking. i mostly use 720 since its easy. Anything above a Netbook i would imagine would bable to handle HD pritty easy if utilizing CoreAVC or if theres any alternative equivalent these days IDK. Maybe not full bitrate Bluray on every system but definetly encoded HD

dunno y ur replacing it, but just fyi. use CoreAVC for decoding HD and something light but awsome like Media Player Classic, and you'd be saprized what pc's can actually play HD. my Netbook cant play full HD or bluray, but I have encodes on here ~4gb 1080(sorry i never botherd to look at the bitrates) that actually work on here[without stutter]. Medium settings tho No deinterlacing medium deblocking. i mostly use 720 since its easy. Anything above a Netbook i would imagine would bable to handle HD pritty easy if utilizing CoreAVC or if theres any alternative equivalent these days IDK. Maybe not full bitrate Bluray on every system but definetly encoded HD

Been there, Three PC's in the house 3000+, 3200+ and a P4 3.0Ghz have lasted a long time but they're showing problems and have trouble mostly with streamed HD. Usage goes too high and they slow down and bog down. Even with MPC-HC and such. Her PC is the best of those three and its also loud and uses more electricity.

If an i5 "U" CPU meets her needs that will help the decision making. There are just so many options out there that its like each day I look for a deal I come up with different solutions.

A Sandy Bridge or newer Ultrabook ultra low voltage CPU absolutely destroys Pentium 4 era CPUs because they are more efficient in terms of instructions per cycle due to better microarchitecture and more cores. This is despite the low clockspeed.

For your reference, IPS=IPCxclockspeed. Instructions per second equals instructions per cycle times number of cycles. IPC varies according to software, microarchitecture, and core count, and maybe some other factors since I don't know the CPUs THAT well..

In this case IPS stands for "In-Plane Switching". The display on the IPS equipped laptop should be much nicer but you might just go down to BB and take a look for yourself.

Oh of course I know about IPS. I am not sure it has it though... the specs claim its the generic screen resolution. Might be worth the trip to BB to confirm and compare. The Intel one is lighter weight which she will value more than say a dedicated GPU.

Despite the focus on incredible sound, viewing certainly doesn't take a backseat. The 15.6-inch HD widescreen display has IPS panels that provide stunning 150°viewing angles, bringing to life detailed, vivid and brighter images from any direction. All wrapped up in a Red Dot Design Award winning body with ripple effect speaker mesh and precision-etched hairline metallic cover.

Under specs it says "1366 x 768" so it is not 1080p after all...

Wonder where I got that from?

OK that is just weird. Your link does not have a "specs" tab so I must have gone hunting for the specs. My link does have a specs tab??? Wait where the heck did the specs go??? I just coped the 1366 x 768 from the specs tab and now I can't find a specs tab at all????

I think I found the right mix.... Small form factor, regular CPU, regular battery??

That's pretty powerful. An SSD will make it even snappier, but compared to what you have now, it will be a tremendously pleasant transition, barring any hiccups or issues.

Passmark is not always useful or accurate, but when comparing processors with a score of less than 500 to that of 1000 or more, it works as a tool. It also does a fair job comparing processors that is within the same generation within the same company. It's notas good when doing AMD vs Intel

any e350 laptops still around? that would maximize your battery life, along with super light weight and small size... and since about 9 months ago those chips DO play all HD content that i can throw at it... streaming youtube and netflix hd is not an issue anymore...

I have that same laptop, and my only warning is to be careful that it doesn't overheat. It may have a fan in it, but it barely seems to do anything.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kbp

Do a search for "Start8".
Download the trial.
This puts the interface back to Win7 within Win8.
See if she "likes".
Then pay the $4.99 for the program.

Ars Technica has a write-up on Start Menu alternatives for Windows 8, and they found a better alternative than Start8. Well, to be fair, it's only better because it's just as good, but slightly cheaper.

I have that same laptop, and my only warning is to be careful that it doesn't overheat. It may have a fan in it, but it barely seems to do anything.

Ars Technica has a write-up on Start Menu alternatives for Windows 8, and they found a better alternative than Start8. Well, to be fair, it's only better because it's just as good, but slightly cheaper.